‘Outlander’ Season 5: Sophie Skelton Reveals Why Brianna Showed Mercy To Stephen Bonnet In Episode 10
SPOILER ALERT: This article discusses Episode 10, titled “Mercy Shall Follow Me,” of Outlander Season 5. Please proceed with caution if you have not yet viewed all available episodes and wish to avoid spoilers.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Stephen Bonnet’s (Ed Speleers) fate was finally sealed in the latest episode of Outlander. However, Sophie Skelton revealed to Variety why her character, Brianna, showed Bonnet mercy in the end.
Episode 10 saw Stephen Bonnet kidnap Brianna and attempt to create a strange “happy” family between them and Brianna’s son, Jeremiah. Previously in Outlander, Bonnet had raped Brianna, and, as a result of this, it was unclear whether Jeremiah — or Jemmy — was his or Roger’s (Richard Rankin) son.
While Bonnet was originally uninterested in knowing he may have fathered a son, when he learned that Jemmy was the heir to Jocasta’s (Maria Boyle Kennedy) vast estate, he was suddenly very interested in the money. In the process of laying ownership to Jemmy, Bonnet also attempted to woo Brianna, having no idea how much the rape truly devastated her and changed her life forever.
Well, that's the delusional way of putting it. #Outlander pic.twitter.com/AsIK4tJgdd
— Outlander (@Outlander_STARZ) April 27, 2020
As a result of this, there were moments during the episode when Brianna started to see how Bonnet’s hard upbringing and the events in his life made him into the monster she knew. Therefore, she started to show some sense of pity towards the character who had wronged her so badly.
“In those small moments, you can’t help but feel he’s been through some bad stuff that made him act the way he has, the whole nature vs. nurture thing,” Sophie Skelton told Variety.
“She has those moments of pity, more than sympathy.”
Bonnet also revealed one of his greatest fears during the latest episode of Outlander. And, when Brianna was finally freed and Bonnet was charged for his crimes, it was with some sort of poetic justice that he was sentenced to die by drowning. However, Brianna, having learned about this fear of Bonnet’s finally shot him rather than have him suffer for a prolonged length of time.
“She could enjoy this and watch him drown and let him know that she’s enjoying it, but she decides she can do this one tiny bit of goodness so he can see in his parting moments from the world that goodness does exist,” Skelton explained further.
Skelton also points out that it gives Brianna a sense of closure and certainty that the man is finally dead rather than waiting any longer for nature to run its course.
